


Favourites

by TheGirlWhoRemembers



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Character Study, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-08 02:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8827216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGirlWhoRemembers/pseuds/TheGirlWhoRemembers
Summary: We've all got them. Foods, colours, drinks, we're all partial to something. Even Spock, though he wishes to avoid the appearance of favouritism.





	1. Food

**Author's Note:**

> Written pre-Into Darkness, several years ago.
> 
> This is complete, so I will try and post one chapter each day.

McCoy’s favourite food is the good old Georgia peach. It’s sweet and juicy, and it reminds him of home, it reminds him of better days. There is nothing better than a Georgia peach when you’re thousands of light years away from home, living in a tin can in the danger and darkness of space. Whether it’s in a pie or tart, just like his mother used to make, in some other dessert, tinned or as jam, or even in a salad, or just plain and fresh, there is absolutely nothing better than a Georgia peach. It is Joanna’s favourite too.

Chekov’s favourite food is his mama’s Russian borscht. Not just any borscht, his mama’s borscht. No matter how many he tries, how many times he reprograms the replicator; it never quite tastes the same. Nothing tastes quite the same as his mama’s borscht after a long run, an exam, when his latest paper is published, or even after a terrible day at school, one of the days when he comes home with cuts and bruises and a new scar. No, there is nothing in the universe to compare with his mama’s borscht, warm and rich and comforting, it’s just like his mama.

Sulu’s favourite food is rice. That’s right, just plain rice. It is not what one would expect of the adventure-loving, adrenaline-seeking pilot, but it is his favourite all the same. It’s the sheer possibility of it, the adventures he can have consuming it in all the different ways, the way it never, ever gets old. Rice is not boring; rice has almost as many possible combinations and variants as parallel universes! It’s hyperbole according to Spock, but he doesn’t care. He’d eat it every day for the rest of his life, in every one of its multiple, glorious forms and variants. It’s forever changing, never boring, yet still reminds him of home. It’s a culinary adventure.  
Scotty’s favourite food is the sandwich. Two slices of bread and some filling, and he’s happy and ready to go. It’s tasty, convenient, not wasteful and can be eaten on the run, or while fixing the warp core. Anything and everything can go inside it, there’s peanut butter, or leftover haggis, or corned beef, or turkey, or ham, or even marshmallows or bananas. A sandwich is just an old, old classic, forever changing, but always familiar, like an old friend, a good hyperspanner or a steady ship. It’s a working man’s lunch, and can be eaten without having to leave his work behind in someone else’s incapable hands. Sandwiches are an engineer’s friend, no doubt about that.

Uhura’s favourite food is chocolate. Particularly so at that certain time of the month. What woman doesn’t enjoy chocolate? It’s sweet and rich and creamy and laden with calories, it’s a guilty pleasure for sure. It’s quite the forbidden fruit. It’s one of those things you know you shouldn’t eat, but can’t help eating anyway. It’s sensuous and comforting, it makes you happy and warm inside, it’s the best thing to eat on the couch while watching a movie and crying your heart out. Just because she’s a woman in Starfleet, doesn’t make her any different to any other woman out there.

Kirk’s favourite food is the apple. They’re nutritious, tasty and easy to eat on the run, so they’re perfectly convenient for him. Eating them also seems to annoy Bones, as an apple a day keeps the doctor away, so that’s a nice extra bonus, except for around physical time or whenever Bones has a hypo in his hand. They can be eaten one-handed, or no-handed, though that didn’t end well, in combat or on the Bridge. They are just the perfect snack for a man of action, and as that’s what he is, the apple is the perfect food for him.

Spock does not have a favourite food. It is illogical to prefer one form of sustenance over all others. It is illogical to have a preference for food unless one suffers from physical or mental harm after consumption, such as in the case of chocolate for him or the Captain’s allergies. However, he is partial to Vulcan foods, finding them more palatable than Terran foods. He is also extremely partial to his mother’s cooking, particularly so her versions of popular Terran foods made using Vulcan ingredients and adjusted to be palatable for Vulcans. It is therefore unfortunate that these foods are no longer in existence, his mother now deceased and all her belongings destroyed. It is saddening that his mother is gone, illogically so.


	2. Alcoholic Drink

McCoy’s favourite alcoholic drink is bourbon. It’s strong, no-fuss and well-aged. It’s a true drink, a man’s drink, it’s not prissy or flowery or full of pretence. It’s also easy to get drunk on. It is a spirit after all. A bracing shot of bourbon is almost as good as a hypo full of painkiller. It’s also the main ingredient of mint juleps, the doctor’s favourite cocktail. There is nothing better than a mint julep, a real _Georgian_ mint julep, not the replicated stuff, for a nice, calm, accident-free shore leave. 

Chekov’s favourite alcoholic drink is vodka. Of course, this is only after he is legally allowed to drink. Vodka is a Russian’s drink and Russian children drink it like mother’s milk! Well, Russian children that are allowed to drink, anyway. Russians are a law-abiding people, except when rules have to be ignored for the greater good. Vodka is as Russian as scotch is Scottish, though he is still absolutely certain that scotch was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad. All in all, vodka is as Russian as Chekov, no denying that, so it is his drink of choice.

Sulu’s favourite alcoholic drink is sake. Yes, it’s because he’s Japanese, but not entirely so. Sake is known as rice wine, though it is perhaps brewed more like beer than wine. But it’s not quite beer, it’s not quite wine, it’s a little bit of both, a little in between, rather Sulu, as he often feels like a patchwork of cultures, of East and West, Japan and America. He likes to think it’s cultured, after all, it has ceremonial and historical significance. Sake is as confused as Sulu once was, but seems to have found its feet nicely, just as he has.

Scotty’s favourite alcoholic drink is scotch. It’s undeniably Scottish, never mind what Chekov says. Scotty’s undeniably Scottish, so put two and two together and you get a scotch-loving engineer. It’s a strong, bracing drink, just what you need after a long day fixing the warp core or radiation leaks or something like that. It’s also rather reminiscent of his Aberdeen pub-crawling days, and a little reminder of one’s youth never goes astray, particularly on a ship full of young, lively lads and lasses. Scotty’s a Scotsman and Scotsmen drink scotch.

Uhura’s favourite alcoholic drink is red wine. This is contrary to what she ordered, rather fatefully, in that little bar in Iowa. She doesn’t really drink Budweiser Classics, or Cardassian Sunrises or shots of Jack much anymore. She’s learnt you don’t have to drink like the boys to keep up with them; at least, it’s not advisable to do so. No, she prefers red wine as it is cultured and elegant and sophisticated. It is also one of the few alcoholic beverages she can get Spock to imbibe, according to its undeniable significance in Earth history, dating back thousands of years. It’s cultured and elegant, but still quite strong, and it is very much Uhura.

Kirk’s favourite alcoholic drink is beer. He’s a farm boy from Iowa, of course it is. He practically grew up on it, like there was any way that James T. Kirk would wait until he was legal. He thinks it’s a masculine drink, Bones begs to differ, he thinks real men drink bourbon. Real _Southern_ men anyway. Well, he did until he heard Uhura’s order at the bar. He never did get to see her drink those drinks though. Perhaps next shore leave then. No, beer’s been a man’s drink for centuries, and Jim Kirk’s always had a subtle appreciation for the classics. 

Spock does not have a favourite alcoholic beverage. Vulcans are not intoxicated by them. Vulcans do not drink alcohol. However, as he is half Vulcan, he occasionally indulges in a glass of red wine with Nyota. He finds the taste to be pleasant and agreeable. However, in terms of intoxication, chocolate causes an effect similar to that of alcohol on humans. Therefore, if one enquires, Spock must truthfully answer that his favourite ‘alcoholic’ drink would be a drink containing chocolate, such as chocolate milk.


	3. Non-Alcoholic Drink

McCoy’s favourite non-alcoholic drink is coffee. Lots and lots of strong, black coffee. Especially with a dash of bourbon, but that wouldn’t make it non-alcoholic. It’s just the thing to wake you up in the morning, particularly if you’ve got a terrible hangover. It keeps him up and firing throughout the day, particularly during those days when he’s got a huge rush of patients into Sickbay because Jim’s gone and done something stupid again. Kirk might have saved them all during the Narada incident, but McCoy credits his life, and consequently many crewmembers’, to coffee.

Chekov’s favourite non-alcoholic drink is Coca Cola. Yes, he really should answer kvass, but it really is Coca Cola. It’s been the drink of choice for teenagers, and indeed a good deal of greater society, for centuries. Granted, 23rd century coke is different to 20th or 21st century coke, it’s much, much healthier and the company has successfully removed the vast majority of all of the health issues that surrounded it. They’ve even gone intergalactic. While he is a genius, he is still a normal teenager too, and many people would do well to remember that. 

Sulu’s favourite non-alcoholic drink is tea. It’s calming, but there are so many ways to drink it! Hot or cold, and so many different flavours! Green tea, red tea, black tea, English Breakfast tea, oolong, Ceylon, jasmine, herbal, and even his own creations. He sometimes makes his own blends using plants he cultivates in the Arboretum. Although, Doctor McCoy is getting quite tired of treating him for poisoning. But even so, there is just something so adventurous, yet so relaxing, about sitting down with a cup of tea. That’s what he likes about it; it never, ever gets old.

Scotty’s favourite non-alcoholic drink is Irn-Bru. He’s a very proud Scotsman after all. It’s fizzy, it’s ginger and it’s phenomenal! It’s tasty and refreshing and it’s got that light citrus taste! It’s made in Scotland, originally anyway, and is Scotland’s other national drink, after the unbeatable scotch, though Irn-Bru comes close. It also tastes great with sandwiches and burgers too. When he’s not allowed to drink, which is usually when he’s on duty or fixing the Enterprise, he’d never touch his Lady while drunk; Irn-Bru is what he drinks. It’s a Scotsman’s other drink.

Uhura’s favourite non-alcoholic drink is juice. They’re the epitome of variety, whether orange if she’s in a hurry, or cranberry if she’s in the mood for something healthy, or mango if she wants something luxurious and tropical. They’re light and refreshing and tasty. They’re also packed full of vitamins and nutrients. As a linguist, being sick is terrible, particularly anything that can affect her voice. Juice helps prevent that. It’s also something that she can drink with Spock; it’s one of the few Earth beverages he is willing to drink. Every drink is better with a Vulcan around.

Kirk’s favourite non-alcoholic drink is also coffee. Blame Bones. But coffee is not only a doctor’s best friend; it’s also a captain’s. He uses copious amounts to stay awake while completing the massive quantities of paperwork required by Starfleet. Seriously, do they really need that much of the stuff? Do they know how much time they waste because he has to do the paperwork? Aren’t they supposed to be exploring? At least he has a Yeoman, Janice really is very efficient. And at least he has coffee.

Spock does not have a favourite non-alcoholic drink. Favouritism is illogical. However, he selects water as his beverage of choice over all other beverages. This is logical. Water has the most benefits to one’s health and is the most rehydrating. On Vulcan, water was scarce and as such used only when necessary and never wasted. As such, Vulcans have a high degree of appreciation for the substance. It is vital to sustain life. He is of the opinion that most life forms do not value water as much as they should; he believes it to be of more value than most.


	4. Colour

McCoy’s favourite colour is pink. He would never, ever admit this to anyone, but it’s true. Pink is the colour of health, of vitality, of absence of illness, unless of course you’re the green-blooded hobgoblin. Pink is the colour of the skin of a fresh Georgian peach. Pink is the colour of the sunset and sunrise back on Earth, it’s natural, and normal and safe, not like in space which is dangerous and dark. Pink is the colour of his little girl’s cheeks, pink was her favourite colour the last time he saw her. The grumpy doctor would never admit it in a thousand years, but he’s a real big softie inside.

Chekov’s favourite colour is yellow. Specifically the yellow of his Command shirt. It’s called Command _gold_ but it’s really more yellow than gold. This particular shade of yellow is what he worked for, gave everything towards, put all his effort into, for years. It’s been what he’s strived for since he was old enough to know. The yellow of his shirt symbolises that he has achieved that, it shows that even though he is young, he is capable, with a future as a Starfleet officer in Command.

Sulu’s favourite colour is red. Red is a colour of action, of adventure, of battle. It’s also the colour of passion, of danger, but also of strength and speed. It is _his_ colour. He lives for action, for adventure, for the thrill of battle, for the thrill of sparring and combat. He has many passions, from piloting to botany to fencing. He revels in dangerous situations and is of the opinion he does his best in them. He loves the speed, the adrenaline rush, of flying a ship at warp speed, the strength he feels when he sits at those controls. Red is Sulu’s colour, no doubt about that.

Scotty’s favourite colour is silver. Silver is the colour of his Lady, the Enterprise. Silver is the colour of much of Engineering, his home. Silver is the colour of almost everything he loves. The Enterprise is a reliable ship, a steady ship, and silver is a colour of reliability. It’s also the colour of age and experience, of wisdom of the ages, of maturity. He is by no means old, but he is on a ship of young lads and lasses. But mostly, silver is the colour of the Enterprise, and as such, Scotty’s favourite colour.

Uhura’s favourite colour is green. Green was the colour of the plants that grew after the rains back in her homeland. Green was the colour of new life. It’s the colour of Gaila, her roommate’s, skin. She loved that girl, even though she was frequently annoyed at her visitors. It’s the colour of Spock’s blood, the colour that he blushes. Though that’s an infrequent event, and even when it occurs it is barely noticeable, she has trained her eye to see it. Green is a lucky colour, and perhaps so much of her life is now owed to luck. Green is the colour that she’s looked for, for years and years, so it is of course her favourite.

Kirk’s favourite colour is unknown. Maybe it’s red like the car he stole, or black like his favourite leather jacket, or maybe gold like his Starfleet uniform. Or perhaps it’s silver like the Enterprise. It’s always changing, growing, reflecting his life, his stage of life, his growing maturity. But it’s never been blue. It will never be blue. Blue was the colour of his father’s uniform, of the Iowa skies he grew up under, of his father’s eyes. Blue is a colour from parts of his life he would rather forget, his eye colour or not, it is not and will never be his favourite.

Spock does not have a favourite colour. It is illogical to prefer one colour over all others. He is, however, partial to brown. He finds it aesthetically pleasing. It is the colour of Nyota’s skin. It is the colour of much of Vulcan. It is a colour that he grew up wearing and watching those around him wear. But most importantly, it is the colour of his mother’s hair and eyes, eyes that he inherited, _human_ eyes. It is the colour of her favourite robes. It is a colour that reminds him of her; it is the colour he sees every time he looks into a mirror. It is a reminder.


	5. Classic Book

McCoy’s favourite classic book is Gone With the Wind. No, the doctor is not a secret reader of romance novels, despite what Kirk may tell you. No, the book has more value than that. The book reminds him of his own life, at times. It may be old, but it is still in the good old South, the home he left behind for the stars. He sometimes wonders whether Jocelyn can love. Perhaps she can. He sometimes wonders whether he should love. He seems to hurt everyone he does. It sobers him, it truly does, and though he doesn’t enjoy the romance, there are poignant parts that stir something within him. Not that he hates the romance......

Chekov’s favourite classic book is Anna Karenina, though War and Peace follows closely. He will gladly recommend to anyone any Russian literature, because good literature was invented in Russia. He loves it because it is so totally, utterly Russian. It tells him of those times past, of his great homeland in other times, of the great change and upheaval that has made it the way it is now. It has taught him how fortunate he is to grow up with his family, relatively happy. Oh, sure there were scandals, like how his great-aunt...something unspeakable. All in all, as Tolstoy is his favourite author, and Anna Karenina is perhaps easier to read and less wordy than War and Peace, it is his favourite novel.

Sulu’s favourite classic book is The Three Musketeers. He loves the fighting and the swashbuckling and the adventures, he loves the heroism. He loves the attempted rescues of damsels in distress, the chivalry and honour of the heroes. He loves the comradeship, the friendship, the characters share. Since childhood, this is what he’d aspired to. He’s wanted to fight, to adventure, to rescue fair maidens, learn and live by chivalry and honour. He’s wanted the comradeship, those close relationships when you can rely on one another to have your back. He’s wanted the hero status. Perhaps most of all. He has it now, and life continues in the vein of his heroes. It’s everything he’s ever wanted.

Scotty’s favourite classic book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He loves Jules Verne books, the way the man predicted all of that wonderful technology that was yet to be created. He just loves the Nautilus, which, at the time, would have been a wonderful engineering work of genius! He loves the way Captain Nemo cares for his ship, the way he spent his fortune on her, the way he had her crafted. He just adores the detailed descriptions of the submarine, the way it is completely, entirely technologically possible. He is another subscriber to the theory that Jules Verne was inspired by Scotland when he created Nemo’s name. National pride dictates he must, after all.

Uhura’s favourite classic book is Jane Eyre. She loves the heroine’s strength, her triumph over difficult circumstances, her conviction in sticking to her cause and beliefs, the way she does not allow men to walk all over her. She enjoys the mystery of the strange happenings, of the scandal at Thornfield Hall. But most of all, she feels so much, empathises so much with Jane, forced to choose between her true love and what she believes her calling, her duty. She admires Jane’s strength, her will. She is so, so glad that she has not had to make that choice. She can have both at once, and for that, she is so grateful. It is the time she lives in that makes this possible, she knows. She is so grateful to live in the 23rd century.

Kirk’s favourite classic book is Of Mice and Men. He feels deeply for Lennie and George, who belong nowhere, have nowhere to go, and nothing, yet dream and dream. He felt like that sometimes, in the years after he deserted his mother, when he was the only genius-level repeat offender in the Midwest. Yet, he knows that he has done so much better than they. He has found his dream, he has achieved. He has his own farm, so to speak, a dream that was tantalizingly close for the book’s characters, but not ever realized. He is glad that his was. The dream instilled into him by Christopher Pike, the dream to command his own ship, was achieved. He has learnt self-control and the ways of the world, qualities that were lacking in that bar in Iowa. He has achieved his dream.

Spock does not have a favourite classic book. Favouritism is illogical. Terran literature is illogical. The characters behave illogically. If they were to commit logical actions, then there would be no scandals or issues or problems or deaths. No one would be upset. This, in his view, would make better literature. His mother used to suppress her laughter when he said that. She said that illogical behaviour is what makes good literature, because it makes a rich story. Because she is human, she would not enjoy the books if they were not illogical. His mother loved classic Terran literature. After Vulcan’s destruction, illogically, Spock finds himself at a book lender, a real paper book lender, reading novel after novel of illogical Terran literature.


	6. Piece of Junk

McCoy’s favourite piece of junk is one of Joanna’s drawings, done when she was only about three. It’s supposedly nothing more than a few scribbles in different colours on a piece of paper, but he knows the story behind it. She’d sat there for hours, tongue poking out slightly in the corner of her mouth, determined to get it just right, starting over time and time again. She’d told him just what it was of. _‘It’s us, Daddy! Me and you and Mommy! All three of us! And look, Daddy, we’re all smiling! Even you! And you and Mommy aren’t being mean to each other! ’_ Every time he looks at it, he wants to cry. He’d had to leave her behind. They were no longer a family. Worst of all, even Joanna had known that, picked up on it, at only three. She had wished for them to be a family, a supportive, functional family, and she hadn’t gotten it. No, she has a dysfunctional family with divorced, bitter parents, and he is an absent father. The closest he will ever get to a family is this piece of paper.

Chekov’s favourite piece of junk is a telescope he fashioned at the age of five. He’d spent months on it, tweaking it, trying to get it just right. It’s still not quite perfect, and not very strong or very clear, but it is his own creation, his very first telescope. Many would wonder why he would fashion such a device; they are almost obsolete after all. There is no place, no major use, for them in the 23rd century. Some believe he created it as homage to the past, but he has a different reason. At five years old, no one was going to let him go out to space or let him into an observatory to watch the stars. Even if it’s little Pavel Chekov, with the puppy dog eyes, the child genius. But no one was going to keep him from the stars, from space. So he, determined, resolute, had crafted, lovingly, with bits and pieces he’d scavenged, this telescope. Bit by bit, little by little, it had come together. He’d watched the stars with it, until he was old enough to go the observatory alone, until he’d gone to the Academy. Now, he doesn’t use it, but it remains in his quarters, carefully looked after and preserved, as a symbol of his determination to reach for the stars.

Sulu’s favourite piece of junk is his first fencing sabre. It’s a bit dented and slightly bent, old and well-used. He’d at first borrowed it off his junior high school’s fencing club. It’d been used by many students past, most who’d only been into fencing for a matter of weeks, before throwing in the towel. He’d not into fencing at first either, he preferred karate. It had been almost sheer chance that he’d taken it up. The coach had noticed him getting into fights and fisticuffs with other boys; he’d almost been suspended and expelled. He’d had a thirst for adventure and a sense of heroism, with a bit of a flair for showing off, and too much energy to burn, and naturally, that had caused him some grief. But forced to attend fencing club for a month in lieu of detention, he’d slowly fallen in love with the sport. It kept him out of trouble for years and he learnt the rules and the importance of discipline, of restraint and how to curb his act first, think later attitude to avoid trouble. Sure, he’d learnt it in karate, but it had never sunk in. Now, it had. He could live out his hero fantasies without trouble from the Principal. He’d eventually bought the sabre off the school and has kept it ever since, as a reminder of the values taught to him in that school gym.

Scotty’s favourite piece of junk, or rather pieces, is an old toolbox of tools. They’re old and outdated and slightly worse for the wear, but to him, they’re beautiful, almost as much as his Lady the Enterprise. He’d begun collecting them as a wee boy, his first given to him by his father, who’d been about to throw out the broken hyperspanner. He’d rescued it, so to speak, and fixed and modified it. He’s of the opinion it is better than ever after his modifications. Over the years, he’d accumulated more and more engineering knowledge, blown up more and more things, and gained more and more tools for the now-battered toolbox. He still uses the tools sometimes. Sometimes, the Starfleet-issue tools just aren’t quite right for what he needs to do. Sometimes, his own modified tools just have that slightly better feel. On this ship full of young lads and lasses, he’s a senior citizen by comparison, with years of experience more than most, and to go with it, a box of tools accumulated over the years. A box of tools slowly filled as his own knowledge was filled in, a box of tools growing more and more cherished as his love grew.

Uhura’s favourite piece of junk is an old, faded dictionary, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of French._ This is the first dictionary of a language that she owns, and it starts of her love and passion for languages. It is followed by _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Russian_ and eventually leads to _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Klingon,_ which is followed by countless others. But they are all of lesser value than the very first, the one that started it all. She doesn’t really use it anymore, she’s fluent in French now, and it’s not of much use out in space, even on Earth almost all beings speak Standard. But there’s a lot of love and time spent in that faded, real paper book. She’s had it almost as long as she can remember. She taught herself French, mostly with the dictionary’s help, but she’s of the mind that a language cannot be learned properly with the assistance of a native speaker. For a student of a language, no greater progress can be made than studying with a native speaker. Not only do you learn the pronunciation better, there is so much culture that can be learned. It is particularly beneficial when learning a language like Vulcan, when many words have no equivalent in Standard, and vice versa. Therefore, it is of little surprise that _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Vulcan_ is the least used of her collection. She’s got a native speaker around, after all.

Kirk’s favourite piece of junk is the Starfleet insignia off his father’s Cadet uniform. His mother had given it to him, when he’d gone back to Iowa after the Narada. She’d said he’d finally deserved it. The insignia had been a gift from George to Winona the day they’d graduated, and she’d kept it safe in Riverside, Iowa for years. When George went down with the Kelvin, she’d just cried and cried over it. Something broke within her that day, and she was never the same again. She was never cruel to her sons, but she was never there either. She’d be off-planet, doing something for Starfleet, and even when she was physically there, she was never really there, always spaced-out, somewhere else. The insignia always goes with her; she carried it like a charm or a blessing. It followed her, like George’s ghost, haunting her. After the Narada, she saw fit to give it to Jim, her second son, so like George in many ways. When she gives it to him, she exorcises her ghosts, and begins, finally, to recover. When she gives it to him, Jim gains a blessing and a memory, a gift and recognition, finally, from his mother. He gains something of his father, other than his flesh and blood, his DNA, to carry around with him, always.

Spock does not have a favourite piece of junk. Not only is favouritism illogical, so is keeping possession of an object that has no use. Objects like that should be either recycled, or if that is not possible, discarded. There is no sense in keeping them. However, he does keep the collar of his now-deceased seh’lat, a collar from his mother for his seh’lat’s use. He had found it illogical, in the sense that while his seh’lat did require a collar to restrain it occasionally, he believed that a plain brown or black one would suffice, but his mother had gifted him a brightly coloured one. He did not believe it logical to have his seh’lat’s name and his family residency’s address engraved on a small metal disk that hung on it. He would ensure his seh’lat was never lost or misplaced, and most Vulcans were aware of the location of Ambassador Sarek’s residency. But his mother had convinced him it was logical to prepare for all situations and possibilities, so he had relented. He was also convinced that is would be illogical to not use her gift as that would be a waste of resources. It is with that in mind that he keeps the collar, along with various other belongings with little apparent value, but much with thought, like the upper body garment his mother had made with her own hands for him to wear to his fateful meeting with the Vulcan Science Academy. They are memories, and remembrance is never illogical.


	7. Style of Music

McCoy’s favourite style of music is blues. It’s soulful, meaningful, simple, and classy, not like the stuff that kids are listening to nowadays. Sure, it’s really, really old fashioned, but he doesn’t care. It has aged well, just like good bourbon. It’s also from the South, the good old South. Home. Where Joanna is. Where he grew up. You can take the doctor out of Georgia, but you can’t take Georgia out of the doctor. He empathizes with it. He’s had a sad life, so far, anyway. But not all blues is sad, there’s a large variety out there. Perhaps it suits the emotionally-charged doctor, sometimes prone to sudden changes in mood. He’s got so many recordings of it in his quarters that he listens to when he thinks no one can hear. Of course, they all can, but they never tell him, they wouldn’t, in a million years.   _Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through, just an old sweet song, keeps Georgia on my mind..._

Chekov’s favourite style of music is classical. Sure, it’s not as if he goes around announcing the fact, he’s seventeen, and what seventeen-year-old enjoys classical music? But he’s not an ordinary teenager and he never will be. His particular favourites include anything by any of the great Russian composers, maybe Shostakovich, perhaps the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, or maybe the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Tchaikovsky or....well, almost anything by Tchaikovsky! Everyone knows that Mozart makes babies smarter, but Tchaikovsky makes them geniuses! His mother had played him Tchaikovsky’s music since birth and perhaps a good deal before that. There’s just something about classical music, not that he doesn’t thoroughly enjoy many of the more popular bands of the day, but classical music is just so constant, enjoyed throughout the ages. Whenever he misses his homeland, Russia, he just goes to his quarters and listens to Tchaikovsky or another great Russian composer, and he’s back there, at home...

Sulu’s favourite style of music is hip hop. Unfortunately, as gang violence has survived in San Francisco, as it does in any major city in the galaxy, particularly as it is home to the Academy, which is, essentially, a military college. However, the upside is that hip hop music has also survived, though it is considered perhaps old fashioned. It’s not as if he was ever a bad teenager, the likes who are arrested and expelled from school, but he’d not exactly been a model student. He’d always liked to stir up a little trouble, and with a bit of an act first, think later attitude, he was bound to get into trouble. He’d fallen in with a group of older boys when he was in junior high, only for a few months, they’d really been into hip hop. He’d been a bit of a drifter then, always changing social groups. His mother had worried then. She’d thought them bad. They’d gone their separate ways after a while, but not before they’d instilled into him the love of both the energetic music, but also the dance. It had once been used to settle disputes, they told him. Dancing instead of fighting. He thinks, perhaps there is little difference.

Scotty’s favourite style of music is metal. The music genre, that is, not the material, though he loves the material too. That’s one reason why it’s his favourite. It’s masculine, non-pretentious and authentic, and for those reasons very popular with engineers. He’d first started listening to it when he started a holiday job at a hovercar repairer when he was about 16. It’d been love at first sight; or rather listen, much like it’d been with the Enterprise. It’s stuck ever since, just like his love of all things mechanical has. Sure the volume’s crept up and up, as he’s gotten deafer and deafer, but it’s still the same music. That’s another reason why he likes it. He can actually hear it. In fact, that’s why it’s so popular with engineers and mechanics and the like. They can hear it. After working a couple years in Engineering, particularly on the Enterprise, you start going a wee bit deaf. That perhaps explains the growing revival of metal among the Engineering department. Or it could be attributed to the enthusiastic Chief Engineer.

Uhura’s favourite style of music is traditional or folk music. She’d grown up listening to it, the traditional songs of East Africa, the songs that she’d first learnt to sing under her mother and grandmother’s tutelage. It is due to them and these songs that she is such a consummate singer. True, she’d been blessed with not only a talented tongue, but a beautiful voice, but a singer must feel the music to sing well, and she had first learnt to feel the traditional East African music. But it is not just traditional music of her people she enjoys. As a linguist, she feels you must not only know the vocabulary and grammar and conventions of a language, but to speak it well, you must know the culture and the people too. That is the only way to become an accomplished speaker. Whenever she begins to learn a new language, she seeks out knowledge of its culture, including its music. Whenever she learns a new language, she will always learn how to sing in it, and most importantly, how to appreciate its music.

Kirk’s favourite style of music is rock. He did live the rock star lifestyle, perhaps minus the glamour and adoring fans, for quite some years of his life. Getting drunk, committing crimes, trashing rooms, sleeping with hot girls, and in general, getting into trouble and living on the edge. It’s also loud, something that is very Jim Kirk. It is also associated with rebellion, another inherent Jim Kirk trait. It’s associated with that party lifestyle, the lifestyle he lived for years, and still does to an extent. It’s non-pretentious and doesn’t follow anyone’s lead, which is so Jim Kirk. It’s a music genre blamed for facilitating greater sexual freedom. That’s undeniably Kirk, just ask McCoy. It’s classic, been around for ages, almost a culture in its own. In fact, it is a culture. There are many styles, many variations, all so different and diverse. This suits his evolution and growth so well. He’s changed, so much, yet still remains Jim Kirk. He’s evolved, but not lost his identity, just like rock. For every stage of the life of Jim Kirk, of which there are many, there is a type of rock to go with it.

Spock does not have a favourite style of music. As he has reiterated multiple times, favouritism is illogical. He is not saying that music is not logical, because it is. Vulcan music, which does exist, and is prevalent, much to many beings’ surprise, is extremely logical. Vulcan scientists have discovered over much research, time and effort, which sounds are particularly pleasing to the Vulcan sense of hearing. They have discovered which stimulate the central nervous system in the most pleasurable way.  As such, they have developed carefully constructed, perfectly logical music. Spock is quite partial to this music. He plays the Vulcan lyre. His mother was also partial to it, but she also enjoyed various styles of Terran music. Very illogical Terran music. As his mother was human, it is justified that she was allowed to indulge in such illogical actions. It is, and there is no other word for it, logical. That is the same logic he applies when he finds himself listening to illogical Terran music after his mother’s death. As a half-human, he is thereby logically inclined to listen to illogical Terran music. There is no fault in his reasoning.


	8. Day of the Year

McCoy’s favourite day of the year is Joanna’s birthday. It’s his favourite in a bittersweet way, he thinks. It commemorates the occurrence of the best thing that’s ever happened to him, never mind what he tells anyone else. Joining Starfleet was a good thing, but not the best thing. It’s the day he’d received the best gift anyone could ever give him, the day his darling little girl was born. It’s the day that the girl who saved his life came into existence. But it’s also the day that he really wants to be there, back in Georgia, just to see her. It’s the day he sends her a card and presents, but ones that go through Jocelyn first. It’s the day he gets Uhura to open a special comm channel, but he only has a few minutes with his precious daughter, before her mother whisks her away again. Sure, his rights to his daughter have greatly improved since the Narada Incident, but her birthday is not one of those days he gets access. Christmas and Father’s Day, he does, and when he’s on shoreleave on Earth, Jocelyn is forced to allow him to visit. But Joanna’s birthday is not one of those days. It’s out of the ‘goodness of her heart’ that she allows him that one call. But it is still enough to make it his favourite day.

Chekov’s favourite day of the year is his birthday. True, there are many memorable and great Russian holidays, and celebrations, and innovations, and occasions, to celebrate, but he’s seventeen and like all children, teenagers and youth, greatly looks forward to his birthday. That’s the day his family will send him presents, the day the Crew will throw a party in a Rec Room. But most importantly, it’s the day he becomes one year older. It’s the day he becomes closer to being an adult, and less of being a child. It’s the day that he feels the Crew will have to treat him like he’s not the baby of the ship anymore. But he is wrong. As the years pass, one, two, three, they continue to do so. They all say that it won’t ever change; he’ll always be the baby of the ship, no matter how old he is. But every year he tells himself the next year will be different and it will all change. Every year he’s wrong. Many tell him to value his youth, you’re only young once, and one day, you won’t want to celebrate your birthday anymore! You won’t want people to know it’s your birthday, or how old you are! But he’s young and thinks he’ll be young forever, like all youth do, so their advice falls on deaf ears.

Sulu’s favourite day of the year is Take Your Houseplant for a Walk Day. That’s on July 27th. He celebrates it every year. Though, in his case, it’s probably Take Your Spaceship Plant for a Walk Day. It does get him weird looks walking around the corridors with armfuls of plants though. But he’ll endure anything for his precious plants. Absolutely anything. He’d fought an honour duel for them once. He’d argued with the Captain, which is insubordination, for them more than once. It turns out the Captain is allergic to a lot of things, including some of Sulu’s plants. Apparently, according to Spock, some of Sulu’s plants are also safety hazards. Just because one of them is gargantuan and carnivorous doesn’t make it dangerous....He’s forbidden to take that particular plant for a walk. It’s a pity though; it could really benefit from one, as plants learn more about their environment when walked and hence feel better and grow better. The plant was muzzled anyway; it’s not as if it could eat anyone. He hopes it’s not offended, plants have feelings too! That’s why he never forgets Take Your Houseplant for a Walk Day. They’d be offended. Every year, as he walks through the corridors, arms full of plants, and crewmembers snigger, he just smiles and keeps walking. He also remembers the faces of the mockers, so he can kick their butts with his katana later. No one laughs at his plants.

Scotty’s favourite day of the year is Sandwich Day, the 3rd of November. It’s an entire day devoted to celebrating his favourite food! What’s not to like? Although, there is also Engineers’ Day, another holiday that he greatly enjoys. It’s true; people of the most noble profession of engineering just aren’t celebrated enough. But neither is the humble sandwich! Truth be told, nobody celebrates the sandwich. In fact, many people don’t even like sandwiches! Oh the horror! The sacrilege! It’s bad enough that sandwiches aren’t celebrated enough, but to not like them, that’s just unbelievable! It was bad enough being stuck on Delta Vega, but being stuck on Delta Vega with Keenser, an alien with a tiny stomach who didn’t like sandwiches? No wonder he’d never gotten any sympathy for being forced to live a sandwich-free existence. But on Sandwich Day, the day devoted to celebrating this wondrous food, he has an excuse and a reason to force anyone and everyone to celebrate and enjoy this miracle food. And woe to anyone who gets in his way or refuses. But one day a year is not nearly enough for the Engineer to worship his favourite food. Every day of the year should be Sandwich Day, but as the masses are yet to appreciate it, it’s one step at a time! Just like every day should be Enterprise Day. That’s something he has to raise in the next Crew meeting. They should get an Enterprise Day to celebrate their Lady...

Uhura’s favourite day of the year is Intergalactic Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8th, by the Terran calendar. It has its roots in International Women’s Day, which was heavily celebrated and commemorated in the 21st century. This in turn has its roots in Working Women’s Day, an event derived from socialism to promote women’s rights and assist the suffrage. It’s been a very long time since, and so much has changed, but women’s rights and equality still has a long way to go. The plight of Orion women is one such example. Even in the extremely progressive ranks of Starfleet, discrimination and unwanted attention still exists. Women hold fewer of the higher ranks, such as Admiral and Captain. It is generally harder for them to get the top postings. She wants to change all of this. She wants to achieve, fly high, just like her male counterparts. She is just as capable, if not more capable, than they are, and she has and will prove this time and time again. She wants to be a role model; she wants to change things for females from all over the universe, and maybe in other universes too. She wants to highlight and change things for women like the Orions, for the sake of girls like Gaila. Her roommate changed her perspectives, helped her open her eyes and added fuel to the fire that burned within her already. Intergalactic Women’s Day is the day she uses to highlight her entire lifestyle, and she will commemorate it as long as she will live.

Kirk’s favourite day of the year is Father’s Day. It seems strange for someone who lost their father at birth, in such a horrible way too. But he wants to honour his father’s sacrifice, though it may have never seemed like it in his youth. True, at some points he resented his father, but he has come to understand and appreciate him. There is another day where he could honour his father. The most obvious day of all: the day of Jim Kirk’s birth, and that of his father’s death. There are two reasons why he does not celebrate his father on this day. Firstly, it’s his birthday, and he does not want to merge his father’s commemoration day with his own birth. He doesn’t celebrate his birthday, but he doesn’t want his father’s memory to have to share a day. It’s more important than that. Secondly, it is too painful to commemorate that day. That is a day of mourning, sadness, a day where he drinks himself into oblivion so he doesn’t have to remember it, so it doesn’t exist. No, that is not a suitable day to remember a hero. No, he has chosen Father’s Day instead. The day where all Terrans celebrate their fathers. It means he doesn’t have to feel alone, or strange, and nobody will enquire why on that day, because everyone’s celebrating their fathers. It’s just his isn’t there, that’s all. George Kirk is celebrated a hero all through the Federation. Jim’s sure that he’d want to be celebrated as a father too.

Spock does not have a favourite day of the year. Favouritism as a concept is not only illogical, but judgement-clouding. Selecting a day of the year as one’s most enjoyed is also ridiculous. Each day is no different from the one before that in terms of enjoyment. They are all equal. It is true that each day may serve a different purpose or have different climate that one would enjoy more, but it is illogical to choose just one day as your most enjoyed year in, year out. There are several days of the year that Spock is partial to, not just an illogical one. He derives pleasure from commemorating several Terran holidays, like Christmas, New Year and Easter. He does not outwardly celebrate them, in the illogical way that humans do, but he commemorates them like his mother did when she lived on Vulcan. She had always tried to make her bondmate and son join in, however it rarely succeeded. She had attempted to introduce a young Spock to these Terran traditions that he found most illogical. She had also celebrated his day of birth, though he did not wish it so. She had given him presents, which he had thought an illogical waste of resources, she had baked him cake, which he declared to be a poor dietary source.  But she had persisted anyway. There were other strange days she liked to celebrate, like Extraterrestrial Culture Day. That was most illogical. Now, Spock commemorates days like Christmas, due to their cultural value to Terrans. His mother was Terran and his bondmate Terran, so it is logical. However, he continues to refuse to acknowledge Extraterrestrial Culture Day, which he considers a bizarre and most illogical event.


	9. Smell

McCoy’s favourite smell is mint. It’s sharp, distinctive smell brings to mind mint juleps, his favourite drink. It’s refreshing, pleasant, warm, fresh, and sweet with a cool aftertaste. It’s a hygienic smell; the smell used for things like mouthwash. It is in creams used to treat swellings and allergic reactions. He’s very used to it, now, thanks to Jim.  It also reminds him of other times, good times gone by. The smell of mint reminds him of the days when he used to live fairly happily with Joanna and Jocelyn, when they had mint in their garden, mint that Joanna grew herself and that they ate with their food. It brings to mind the mint jelly they ate with their roasts, the dinners they ate as a family, few and far between though they were. It reminds him of the way that Joanna used to hate it, and how she hated mint toothpaste most of all. He wonders whether she likes it now. Frankly, it reminds him of better times. But now, he has trained and told himself that the only reason he loves this smell is because of mint juleps. The doctor turns to alcohol, and mint juleps, to drown his sorrows, and he doesn’t give a damn if that’s not a medically advised course of action.

Chekov’s favourite smell is the smell of pine trees. The pleasant smell, especially in winter, brings to mind so many pleasant memories. There are memories of celebrating, a yolka, or a Christmas tree in the living room of his family home. Russians nowadays tend to celebrate Christmas for two weeks, because they are a very festive people! They celebrate Christmas with the rest of the world on the 25th of December, but they also celebrate a similar celebration on New Year’s. Finally, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates their Christmas on January the 7th. Over the years, all of these traditions have mixed together, blended and shifted. He does miss his family greatly on these days. There are so many good memories, like playing in the snow with his brothers, or drinking hot cocoa by the yolka in front of an artificial fire, or opening Christmas presents. The smell of the pine tree also reminds him of the Russian countryside he used to run through, and the fields that he used to sit in to stargaze, because they were far from the city lights and a perfect place to do so. The smell of the pine tree is the smell of his childhood, which is long past, no matter what everyone would think.

Sulu’s favourite smell is the smell of roses, specifically his rosebush Gertrude. Or maybe it’s the smell of his Rikka flower plant, Lara. Or maybe his Venus flytrap, Ethel. Or...you get the point. He loves the smell of his plants, each and every one of them. He can’t pick a favourite, he really can’t. That’s like asking Chekov to pick his favourite Russian invention, or Scotty to pick his favourite part of the Enterprise, or Uhura to pick her favourite language, or McCoy to pick his favourite hypo, or Kirk to pick his favourite girl or Spock to pick his favourite anything. It’s impossible. Sulu just loves his plants, more than anything else in the world. Sure, he loves fencing, and he loves flying and he loves adrenaline rushes, but nothing can beat his dear plants. There’s really nothing like coming back after a mission, after he gets out of Sickbay of course, and heading to the Arboretum to tend to his plants and prune Gertrude, or feed Ethel some insects or make sure Claire hasn’t eaten anyone. There is nothing like getting his hands dirty with fertilizer, and the rewards he reaps are wonderful. The flowers are absolutely beautiful when they bloom, and the scent intoxicating. Though, it really does annoy Dr McCoy when he shows up in Sickbay drunk on fumes or unconscious because of some new pollen or goodness knows what else...

Scotty’s favourite smell is the smell of engineering. It’s a mixture of oil and grease, burnt clothing and goodness knows what else, tinged with a hint of that strange scent left after an explosion. In other words, it’s heavenly. At least, that’s what he thinks. Not many others seem to appreciate, it though. But of course it’s going to be the Engineer’s favourite, he practically lives there and loves absolutely everything about his job. According to Occupational Health and Safety, a tidy Engineering is a good Engineering, but any decent Engineer knows that the mark of a good one is a wee bit of mess, and a few occasional explosions and accidents. You can’t be a decent Engineer if you don’t have a couple of burn marks on your uniform. You’re not an Engineer until you’ve had at least one explosion on your watch. And you are most definitely not an Enterprise Engineer until you have learnt to appreciate the resulting scents, as Scotty will make sure of. Sure, of course he does need to take a sonic shower at the end of every day, or Dr McCoy will be all over him, but even his quarters, which are rarely used, mostly you find him in Engineering asleep in his office, have a very strong scent of engineering about them. You can take him out of Engineering, but there is no way you can take the Engineer out of Scotty.

Uhura’s favourite smell is the scent of jasmine. This is a flower grown in her homeland of Africa. It is beautiful, and easy to grow, with a wonderful scent, and makes a wonderful hair accessory. But there are many beautiful plants in her homeland, colourful, with plenty of sweet nectar. The birds love these flowers, in bright reds and yellows and oranges. She too loves them as well, but none so much as jasmine. The scent is beautiful and intense, and changes and cycles through the day. The name is Persian for ‘a gift from God’, and it is rightly named. She remembers as a child watching the flowers open and close as the day wore on, smelling the change in their scent, watching the harvest of them for their oil. The oil was and still is prized, and very expensive. It is an ingredient in perfumes, and she keeps a bottle or two of jasmine perfumes onboard the Enterprise with her.  There’s just something about its scent, something special, something with good memories in it. She vaguely remembers her mother and sister, and indeed all of her female relatives, wearing this scent, a scent that followed them wherever they went. She wears it herself now, and it follows her around like a shadow. It’s a strong scent, and she feels like a girl needs a little pampering out here in the darkness of space.

Kirk’s favourite smell is the smell of his own blood. No, he is not a vampire, despite what one of his former one-night stands might tell you. He knew he shouldn’t have picked up that girl...she was way too obsessed with early 21st century teen fiction. He is not a masochist, despite what some other former one-night stands and Bones might tell you. No, that rich, salty scent is his favourite, because it reminds him he is alive.  It might seem strange, isn’t scenting blood a bad thing? Doesn’t it mean you are injured, and could possibly die? But when you’re Jim Kirk, these things happen at least once a week, so he’s quite accustomed to it now. There’s no use thinking that you are going to die every time it happens now. No, he’s very nearly died many, many times. In fact, he actually has died, medically, a few times, and each and every time Bones has brought him back. He really does owe the good doctor. Most of the times in which he has nearly died, or died, have not been from anything causing bleeding. Most of the time, it’s from alien diseases, or from touching stuff he’s not supposed to, or from allergic reactions. But when he scents blood, he knows he’s alive, and he knows Bones can fix him up.

Spock does not have a favourite smell. Not only is it completely bizarre to have a favourite olfactory stimulant, as he has reiterated many times, favouritism is a completely illogical concept. He is, however, unusually partial to, in the olfactory sense, to the scent of the plants his mother had grown at their Vulcan home. This is not illogical. A fondness for one’s home, childhood and family is perfectly logical. His mother had grown many Terran plants outside and inside their Vulcan home. She had not been able to grow many common ones, as the climate on Vulcan is extreme and dry for most. It is illogical and scientifically implausible that Terran plants would be adapted to Vulcan ecosystems. However, there are some Terran plants that are tolerant of Vulcan’s soils and climate conditions. She had grown many members of the family _Cactaceae_ , or what humans refer to as a cactus or cacti. He remembers studying these fascinating specimens, and being absolutely fascinated by their brilliant display of evolution and natural selection. They were actually quite similar, botanically, to many Vulcan plants. He found this fascinating. Plants on distant planets could actually evolve to be similar. He remembers examining them carefully, and helping his mother care for them, as well as the scent that the flowers released at certain times of day. He remembers the scents, as he remembers the plants, as he remembers his mother.


	10. Vacation Spot

McCoy’s favourite vacation spot is the good old South. He enjoys spending time just relaxing, maybe on a beach, or fishing, or hiking, or seeing the few remaining historical Civil War sites. There’s nothing like drinking mint juleps or eating good old Southern food that’s not replicated. There’s nothing like a genuine Georgia peach, there’s nothing like listening to real, live blues music. And there sure isn’t anything quite like New Orleans. There’s nothing like taking a riverboat ride down the Mississippi River, particularly at sunset. There’s nothing like listening to stories about what happens down near the bayous either.  There is nothing like not having a care in the world, being able to relax because you’re not in a tin can in the middle of space, being able to relax because you don’t have to save your best friend’s ass every other day. Jim Kirk might be his best friend, but chasing after that kid with a hypo starts to take its toll. He doesn’t care what everyone else thinks, Risa isn’t for everyone. He’d take the South any day. But most of all, there is absolutely nothing like seeing the person who means the most to you in the whole universe, and for McCoy, that’s his daughter Joanna. She’s in Georgia, and that means Georgia and the South is where McCoy would rather be.

Chekov’s favourite vacation spot is Russia. Of course it is Russia, generally, the Ensign’s favourite everything has to do with Russia! But he’s not just being patriotic; Russia is really a wonderful place for a holiday. Not only does he see his family, and get to eat his Mama’s borscht, and drink real Russian vodka, and babble about Russian inventions without interruption, there really is so much to do! There are so many examples of glorious architecture (a Russian invention), like St Basil’s Cathedral and the Red Square, as well as wonderful skiing! Lake Baikal is one of the more beautiful places he has seen, wonderfully preserved into the 23rd century. There’s the Kamchatka peninsula too. He’s of the mind that Russia’s greatest strength in terms of being a tourism destination is that it’s so big, so diverse, got so many different landscapes, places, architecture. He loves it for that, he really does. He’s got to get the Enterprise Crew, his new friends, to visit Russia, he really does. e’He’s

He’s going to get them to come to his homeland, to see and appreciate it and its many inventions. He also loves returning on shoreleave to Russia to see the places of his childhood, go to the places that he used to love to go, and still does, do the things that he loved to do, and secretly still does. He’s old for his age, in some ways, and young for his age in others. But there is no being in the universe that doesn’t love going home.

Sulu doesn’t have a favourite vacation spot. That’s not to say he doesn’t like vacations. Who doesn’t like drinking alcohol and partying and spending time on the beach and adventuring and picking up girls and just relaxing? Who doesn’t like not having to look out for danger or run from crazy aliens? Who doesn’t like not having to pilot for your life? No, he really loves vacation. No Klingons or ion storms or crazy alien ambassadors or parallel universes. No dead redshirts or having to save his Captain and no hypos from McCoy. Vacation is great, but he doesn’t have a favourite spot. Sure, there are many wonderful places to go, like Risa, or Florida, or Japan, or France. But there’s no favourite spot of his. He’s of the adventurous sort, and he doesn’t like places becoming familiar. He’s not the sort to religiously go back to the same place, year in, year out, every year, at the same time and do the same thing. That’s just not Sulu. He’s in Starfleet because he likes adventure, he’s a pilot because he loves adrenaline rushes and he doesn’t like being in the same place twice. That’s why he loves the Enterprise. It never gets boring, not when Jim Kirk’s your Captain. That’s why he doesn’t have a favourite vacation spot. He doesn’t like going back to the same place twice. He makes a point of picking a new place every vacation, and so far, it’s served him well, taking him on many adventures, though of the more relaxing sort than his day job.

Scotty’s favourite vacation spot is anywhere nice and warm, with no snow to speak of, and plenty of company. And lots of sandwiches. And scotch. Preferably somewhere where you can do a wee bit of experimental engineering without losing a dog. And most definitely somewhere nice and far away from Admiral Archer. That’s a must. There is no way one can be marooned on Delta Vega for six months without thoroughly disliking the cold and the snow, so skiing is definitely out of the question. He’d prefer a beach. Or perhaps somewhere tropical. He’d only had Keenser, who rarely speaks, as company for those long six months. Well, and a tribble too. But that doesn’t really count. He’d like somewhere busy, somewhere with lots of pretty lasses who appreciate Engineers. He’d like somewhere with plenty of sandwiches and scotch. That’s plenty of an Engineer’s food and a man’s drink. He’d like somewhere where he can just sit on a beach, drink lots and get slightly hung-over, before repeating on and on for the duration of his shoreleave. Somewhere where he can try every type of sandwich under the sun, and a good deal more of every other sort. He’d like to be somewhere where he can do his experiments in peace, somewhere where he doesn’t have to worry about losing his test subjects. He just wants a nice, peaceful, relaxing, warm vacation, without the stress of being anywhere near Admiral Archer. Unfortunately, the man doesn’t seem to see it this way, and seems determined to be anywhere where he would be. He really wishes he didn’t see the man in those horrible bathers....

Uhura’s favourite vacation spot is anywhere where she can immerse herself totally in the local culture. Really, that’s anywhere. Or at least anywhere where Kirk’s not getting them killed. For her, it’s anywhere where she doesn’t have to worry about missions or strict Federation diplomacy, somewhere where she can live like one of the people. There’s nothing like living like the locals to improve her understanding of a language, customs, an entire _culture._ There is really a massive difference between learning a language out of a book, and learning one from living it. That’s her trick for having a ‘talented tongue.’ Sure, a little natural talent goes some way, but one is only a great linguist if one lives the language, and does so regularly. Language is a fluid, changing, evolving thing, and there are many little nuances, traditions that cannot be picked up from a textbook. She’s determined and devoted, that’s why she would give even her shoreleave to refining her art. Spock approves, it is, after all, extremely logical. She’s a woman on a mission, a mission to become the best linguist in the galaxy. Perhaps that is hyperbole, perhaps that’s a bit too high, but she’s always been one to set lofty ambitions. She’s never one to back down from a challenge. So she vacations anywhere where she can improve her linguistic skills. Though, like every girl, she does love Paris. She should suggest that to Spock, perhaps they can go next time they have shoreleave. After all, having a content bondmate is most logical, and a discontent one can have drastic consequences that one wishes to avoid...

Kirk’s favourite vacation spot is Risa. It’s a pleasure planet, a resort planet, full of pretty girls and bars and alcohol. Call him shallow if you’d like, but there is a deeper reason for all of this. A vacation is a break, right? When you can let your hair down, relax, forget all you responsibilities. It’s about letting go of your ordinary life, and enjoying yourself, living on impulse. In other words, for years, his life was like a vacation. Or at least, he wanted it to be a vacation. It wasn’t a real one. He couldn’t let go of his everyday life. The one in which his mother’s broken and always off planet, when his brother’s run away, when Frank’s selling everything that matters to him, when his father’s _dead._ He tried, but it never worked. But he’s exorcising his demons now; he’s cutting them loose, one at a time. He’s grown up, wiser, and he’s learning his lessons. He’s been back to Iowa; he’s said sorry, tracked down his brother, reconciled with his mother, but not Frank. Never Frank. Iowa isn’t anywhere to go on vacation now; it’s one of his two homes. He thinks you can have more than one. Or at least, he has more than one. He’s never been one to follow the rules. One is the Enterprise, the other is Iowa, and they are both dear to him. You don’t go on vacation to your home, so though there are two places he loves as much as, perhaps more, than Risa, they are not vacation spots. They’re home. No, he’s a starship Captain, and he does need to let his hair down once in a while. Anyway, what’s the point of being a Captain in Starfleet if you can’t use it in pickup lines?

Spock does not have a favourite vacation spot. He has now decided that it is an illogical waste of energy to convince his fellow crewmembers, and the general population, that favouritism is an illogical concept. Vacations are also an illogical concept. Spock does not understand why a being would chose to spend valuable time participating in inefficient and pointless activities. As such, he does not take vacations, so it is impossible that he would have a most preferred vacation area. According to Nyota, humans require vacations to enable them to operate at maximum efficiency as they need relaxation and rest in order to function.  He still does not comprehend what this has to do with him taking vacations. As he is half-Vulcan, he does not require vacations. They are illogical. However, he does occasionally take short periods of leave in which he does not fulfil his Starfleet duties, instead electing to partake in other activities which provide a learning experience and allow him to operate at maximum efficiency when he is not on leave. He has recently discovered photographs of his parents, in various regions of Vulcan, as well as Earth, and several other planets. They are on what humans call a vacation. These photographs depict many scenes, including one of Vulcan’s sunset. This very much saddens him, as this is a sunset no longer in existence, illogical though that seems. He assumes that in a hypothetical situation in which Vulcan still exists, that Vulcan would be his most preferred area to undergo leave. There are many places that he regrets not visiting for a very long time, areas that he regrets he never showed Nyota, areas in which his parents took vacations. There are many regrets, he thinks, or at least what humans would term regrets. Vulcans do not have regrets. But he is half-Vulcan, and caught in the middle.


	11. Part of the Enterprise

McCoy’s favourite part of the Enterprise is the Rec Rooms. They’re leisure areas, areas for relaxing, socialising. They’re generally a place of happiness, a place where the Crew can forget, for a little while, that they’re on a starship in the middle of space. They’re areas free of danger, and usually free of Jim’s crazy antics. They are rooms free of alien attacks and goodness knows what else. There is usually no physics that he can’t wrap his head around, unless Spock or Chekov or Scotty happens to be there too. There is nobody dying, or seriously injured, unlike Sickbay, so it’s a much lower-stress environment for him. It’s not a no-stress environment, because it’s still in the middle of space, damn it, why is he even on this tin can?  To keep Jim from getting himself killed, he thinks. What he likes about the Rec Rooms is that it’s not the Transporter Room, or Sickbay. He’s not up to his elbows in blood and guts, trying to save lives. Not that he doesn’t like saving people, but he’d rather not have to save them in the first place. In the Rec Rooms, he doesn’t have to stand near a dangerous Transporter; pacing and worrying his heart out that someone won’t come back alive. If people are in the Rec Rooms it means they’re alive and relatively well. It means no one is going to die in the next five minutes, most of the time anyway. In a hunk of metal floating in a deadly void; the Rec Rooms are the closest he will get to a safe place.

Chekov’s favourite part of the Enterprise is the Mess Hall. That’s contrary to what most people would believe, they would think it’s the Bridge, specifically his station, or perhaps the labs, specifically the physics ones, or even his own quarters, simply because he’s a teenager. Yes, he is a teenager, and yes, people really should remember that just because he’s a genius, doesn’t mean he’s not normal. His quarters are a complete mess, as anyone who’s been in there would attest. It’s not as if he doesn’t like the Bridge, or the labs, or his quarters, but the Mess Hall is his favourite part of the Enterprise. Pavel Andreievich Chekov, genius and maths whiz, is also a seventeen year old boy. Every being in the universe knows what that means. Aside from some _inappropriate things that a gentleman never mentions_ , it also means he’s always hungry. Always. His lean frame doesn’t show it, whether due to all that maths, which really burns a lot of energy, or the running, or good genes, or simply because of his youth. But really, the Enterprise’s resident child genius can wolf down enough food to make _Scotty_ sick. That’s saying something. He had an eating contest with the Chief Engineer last time they were planetside. Chekov frankly slaughtered him. He slaughtered Kirk too. And Sulu. McCoy just shakes his head in wonder. Spock finds this an illogical waste of food. Uhura thinks it’s cute and just says he’s a growing boy who needs his food. So it’s no wonder the Mess Hall is his favourite part of the Enterprise. After all, he’s always hungry, particularly after a hard day of doing telemetry.

Sulu’s favourite part of the Enterprise is the Arboretum. It’s where his precious plants are, after all. Perhaps other people would think his favourite part is the Gym, where he can fence and spar, or perhaps the Helm, where he flies the ship. Sure, he loves both, but they’re not his favourites. He loves flying the ship, but that’s his day job, and even though it’s a job that never gets old, it’s still his day job. The console kind of gets old after a while, he gets used to it. After he learns exactly where the external inertial dampener controls are, there’s really nothing new. It’s not as if he doesn’t like his station, but it’s not an adventure in itself, it’s nothing new, really. About the Gym, he does enjoy working out and fencing, and he doesn’t pretend that he can’t kick butt without training.  But though he enjoys all his hobbies, of which there are quite a few, the Arboretum is without a doubt his favourite part of the Enterprise. There’s just something about his plants, there’s just something about the flowers and the foliage. There’s something about those bright colours, about the entire jungle of flora. It’s soothing and relaxing, after all, you can’t be adventuring all the time! Even an adventuring hero needs his downtime. He really does love his breaks in the Arboretum. The Arboretum is also the perfect place to practice fencing. Really, it is. You have no idea how useful a katana is for pruning. It’s also really good to prevent plants from eating passers-by, particularly red-shirted Ensigns. Is it just him, or is Claire developing a taste for red-shirts?

Scotty doesn’t have a favourite part of the Enterprise. In fact, he’s very surprised and rather shocked that anyone would even ask that question! Everybody knows that the Engineer loves the entire ship, not just one little bit. And don’t ask if he could pick one either. That’s just not possible. He would rather pick a favourite type of sandwich, or agree with Chekov that scotch was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad, or be marooned on Delta Vega with Admiral Archer. Picking a favourite part of the Enterprise just isn’t possible. He dearly loves his Lady, and will fight tooth and nail to keep her safe. He devotes his entire life to keeping her running in the best condition possible, making her the best ship in the fleet. He loves every bit of her, from port side to starboard side, from the Bridge to the Galley, from hull to warp core. The Enterprise is a beautiful ship, a wonderful ship, a ship that has served them all so well. She’s a ship that’s been through a lot, and come out better for it all. For her Crew, she’s home away from home. She’s his entire world. Though Dr McCoy may complain, he believes that the Doctor secretly loves the ship too. But nobody will ever love this ship more than Scotty, even Captain Kirk. That’s why he struggles so much to pick a favourite part, just one favourite part. Frankly, he doesn’t have one, he loves the entire ship. But then again, she does have very nice, ample nacelles...

Uhura’s favourite part of the Enterprise is her station. That little corner of the Bridge represents everything she’s worked for. It’s an accumulation of everything she’s achieved, a reward for years of hard work, effort and excellence. She knows she’s bright, she knows she deserves it, and she knows she can keep it. It’s _her_ station, and there’s no changing that. She’s earned it, fair and square. Though she may not have been originally assigned to the Enterprise, though one could argue she didn’t deserve to be there, she earned her station. She earned her spot as the Communications Officer. She earned her Lieutenant’s stripe. She earned it with her very own abilities, her ability to understand and speak all three dialects of Romulan. Hard work pays off, and hard work is what makes you get ahead. Most of the time. There are other things, and she cannot forget about those. Connections, luck, chance, charisma...she doesn’t like to think about those. She respects her Captain; he is good at what he does. She understands he has his merits, she understands he deserves his Captain’s Chair. That doesn’t mean she has to like him. Oh, she understands what would have been if he hadn’t been Captain, hadn’t been aboard, hadn’t been in Starfleet. But that doesn’t mean she has to like him. She respects him, but they’re two different things. She believes in earning one’s awards through hard work and dedication, and that’s just what she’s done. Her station is symbolic of that. It is symbolic of her determination, her abilities, her persistence. It serves to remind her to continue that. It’s _hers_ after all.

Kirk’s favourite part of the Enterprise is the Bridge. He does love the whole ship, he really does. She’s part of him, really. But the Bridge is the control centre, the brain, the central nervous system! It’s the very centre, the heart and soul of the ship. Spock says this is completely illogical. He doesn’t care. Since when has he cared for logic? Spock also says this is utterly impossible, and that though he acknowledges that the ship could not function without the Bridge, as the ship is not a life form, and as such does not have a brain. Kirk shoots back at him that not all life forms have brains. Spock says that is irrelevant. But Kirk doesn’t care. The Bridge is his favourite part of the Enterprise, brain of the ship or not. It’s his favourite because it’s where he commands this ship from. It’s where his Captain’s Chair is. It’s where he can actually make a difference, and he’s not allowing anyone to remove him from it. Spock’s done it before, so theoretically he could do it again, with that Vulcan nerve pinch of his...but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t believe in no-win situations. He’s always on the Bridge, whenever his First Officer and CMO allow him to be, anyway. Whenever he’s not leading the Away Team himself, he’ll be on the Bridge. Whenever he’s not doing things necessary to his survival or on shoreleave, he’ll be there. The Bridge is where he commands from, where he gives orders, where he can make a difference, take action. James Tiberius Kirk is a man of action, so it is of course natural, and perfectly logical, that the Bridge is his favourite part of the Enterprise.

Spock does not have a favourite part of the Enterprise. As he has informed the Crew, as well as many other beings, he does not have any so-called ‘favourites.’ That would be totally and utterly irrational. However, he does find himself becoming partial to the starship Enterprise, as well as possessing a growing attachment to its Crew. It is of course perfectly logical to be partial to this particular starship. It is the starship that he serves on, as First Officer. If he disliked the starship, that would not be a positive situation. It is, of course, his primary habitat for an indefinite period of time. Aside from shoreleave, and Away Missions, he will not leave this starship, the Enterprise. It is therefore perfectly logical that he is partial to the Enterprise. However, Spock is finding it challenging and logically impossible to justify his growing emotional attachment to the Crew of the Enterprise, in particular to certain individuals. He therefore has attributed this undesirable attachment to his human side. Though it is not desirable, nor acceptable, for Vulcans to form this type of emotional connection to other beings except for one’s bondmate, it is logical for humans to do so. As half-human, it is therefore logical that he experience some degree of this phenomenon. He has become friends with many of the Crew, true to his counterpart’s words; his relationship with his Captain has become one that will define them both. He has even developed a cordial relationship with Dr McCoy. That surprised him greatly. Mr Chekov is no longer afraid of him. Mr Scott attempts to offer him sandwiches. He surprises himself by accepting, provided they contain no animal products. Mr Sulu recently gifted him a Vulcan plant he had cultivated. As for his emotional attachment to Nyota, he believes that logical and acceptable by Vulcan standards. Love for one’s bondmate is, without a doubt, logical. As the Enterprise is also her place of inhabitation, it is perhaps logical to state that where he can find her would be his favourite part of the ship.


	12. Childhood Memory

McCoy’s favourite childhood memory is eating baked beans with his parents. The McCoy family was famous for their creation of a generations-old recipe for good old Southern baked beans. They were the best baked beans you could get in the South, in fact, they were, and still are, he thinks, the best baked beans you can get anywhere in this damn universe! As well as any other universe out there. Damn Jim, he keeps taking them weird places. He didn’t sign up for this. As the next in line to inherit the mantle of the holder of the renowned McCoy baked bean recipe, he had been educated from an early age, particularly by his father, in the appreciation of the baked bean. It’s still one of his favourite foods, second only to Georgia peaches. His favourite baked-bean-eating memory consists of when his parents judged him old enough to learn the recipe, and its secret ingredient, closely guarded by and held close to the hearts of generations of McCoys. That was when he was about twelve, he thinks. He remembers that warm, sunny afternoon, standing in the kitchen, over an old-fashioned stove, with his proud mother and father. They had a replicator, but it was firmly maintained that the only way to make proper McCoy baked beans was the old fashioned way, with a stove. That time, the baked beans, always excellent, had tasted especially good. He swears he can still taste them on his tongue. The green-blooded hobgoblin would say that was impossible, but he doesn’t give a damn. The pointy-eared bastard has never tried McCoy baked beans. It was that day that he learnt the secret ingredient, the one thing that sets apart McCoy baked beans from any old baked beans. Don’t tell anyone, but it’s Tennessee whisky.

 Chekov’s favourite childhood memory is of sitting in a Russian field, surrounded by his family, watching the stars. Granted, they hadn’t all been star-gazing, his cousins and brothers had declared it downright boring after ten minutes. But little Pavel Chekov, at that time about only three, had been utterly fascinated by the pinpricks of light. He’d sat on his grandfather’s lap, and listened attentively as he told his grandson all about the stars, and the constellations, and space. He had been absolutely enthralled, absolutely fascinated, and that evening had lit a fire within him. It’s actually his very first concrete memory. There are little things he remembers from before that, little snatches of images, but nothing was clear until this one. It’s the first memory he can clearly recall, and it’s special that way. Perhaps it was destined to be that way; perhaps it is fate that this is his first memory. Even the very next morning, he had proudly announced to his parents and brothers at the table during breakfast that he wanted to go to up to the stars when he grew up. From then on, he had been extremely excited whenever he saw his grandfather, always asking for more stories about space. He played with his toy spaceships, and pretended to explore the universe. He read books, and watched holo-vids about space. He would climb trees, with his homemade telescope, just to see the stars. When he was older, he would frequent the Observatory, and go for runs, far away, to the very same field, to stargaze. Then, finally, when he was old enough, he went to Starfleet Academy. When he’s a little older, he fulfils the dream begun one night in Russia, when he was three years old.

Sulu’s favourite childhood memory is when he finally received his judo black belt, first dan. This occurred just after he turned sixteen, as in the USA, one is not allowed to gain dan levels in judo before one’s 16th birthday. He remembers finding that grossly unfair. He always ended up sparring with senior black belts anyway. The young Hikaru Sulu was never a stickler for rules. His school records prove that. A predilection for fighting, many of his teachers thought. If they could see him now, he thinks many would not believe he’s the same person. The truth is, it’s not so much he had a predilection for violence, but rather he had a habit of acting before thinking, a thirst for heroism, and simply had too much energy for his own good. He was quite the hyperactive child, as his poor mother would attest. His family had enrolled him in so many sports and activities in an attempt to burn off all of that excess energy. Karate, judo, later fencing, a whole lot of other sports that he played for a week, then lost interest in. Everyone knows his passion for fencing; the bug got him in junior high, and hasn’t left since. But lesser known is his passion for martial arts. He kept up the karate for quite some time, but not to the level he kept up his judo. He’s extremely proficient now, and it’s taught him discipline and the value of thought before action. Whenever he needs a reminder to look before he leaps, all he needs to do is go back to that day, the day when he finally attained his black belt. All he has to do is to take a moment before acting, before leaping headfirst into a situation, to go back to the day he became a fully-fledged judoka.

Scotty’s favourite childhood memory is the time when he built his first robot from scratch. He was six years old at the time, just a wee lad. It had been months of long, hard work, with plenty of sandwiches and Irn-Bru. There was a lot of love in that little thing, and a lot of elbow grease, and a couple of wee explosions, nothing serious. It had been build of scavenged metal and bits of scrap, as well as the parts from some broken toys and an old PADD. True, the end product had been scrappy and battered, just a patchwork of parts, primitive and definitely not showing the workmanship his creations do now. But he had made it from scratch, and it was his robot. He had built it himself, at his insistence, without any adult help. It had just been him and some old tools, sitting out in the garden, or in his room, fine tuning and fixing and piecing together the little robot. He remembers the glory, the happiness, the sheer sense of achievement he had felt at the robot’s completion. It’s a feeling that one never forgets, that one, the feeling of being on top of the world, the feeling that you can do anything, that you are invincible. It’s addictive, it is. He chases it now, the feeling that you have attained perfection, in his tinkering with the Enterprise. He remembers how his mother had been so proud of him, how his father had been so pleased with his son. He remembers the extra helping of haggis there was for him at dinner that night. He remembers his pride as he brought his robot to school for show and tell. That was a glorious feeling, being watched with awe by one’s peers. At least, it was, until the robot blew up in his face. He’d had no eyebrows for ages after that.

Uhura’s favourite childhood memory is the memory of when she’d mastered her first alien language, Vulcan. True, by then, she’d already mastered countless Terran languages, but Vulcan was her first non-Terran language. That makes it special. It’s different, and it’s not commonly spoken. Most beings on Earth speak Standard, anyway. Vulcan was the language that she felt was of greatest use at that point, of all the languages she spoke. With it in her arsenal, she could communicate with beings from off planet, from another place entirely, with another culture. Many people would wonder why she wanted to learn Vulcan, of all languages; this was surely one of the most difficult. Many would say that learning Vulcan is akin to learning how to speak and think all over again, so different it is to Standard. To learn to speak without emotion is considered nigh impossible for the human tongue. But she knew she was gifted, she knew she had a talented tongue, and she was determined to prove the doubters wrong. She was determined to challenge herself, and overcome this challenge, and master this unfamiliar language. She chose Vulcan over Klingon because she felt Vulcan posed more of a challenge. And she loved challenges. She knew she could beat them. But wrapping her talented tongue around Vulcan takes a very long time, and she is in her early teens, about thirteen, she thinks, when she finally attains mastery. But after that, after that glorious, joyous, elated moment of achievement, she feels inspired. She feels like she can do anything, and she becomes addicted to that feeling of excellence. After that, mastering other languages becomes so much easier, so much faster. Though it takes her years to master Vulcan, she masters Klingon in a matter of months, and Andorian just as quick. She’s got a talented tongue, after all.

Kirk’s favourite childhood memory is of the time he drove his father’s car. That was the time in back in Iowa, when he took it because Frank was going to sell it. Never mind that it was illegal and dangerous, he didn’t care, and he still doesn’t. It’s a Jim Kirk thing to do, it’s part of his character as much as that cocky smile. Sure, the reports say that he stole it, but he’s of the opinion it was Frank doing the theft. It was his father’s car. That red, vintage vehicle had been his pride and joy. That day had begun as an ordinary one. His mother was off planet, which was nothing new. He’d fought with Frank, again nothing new or out of routine. That had been the day that Sam had left. Now that was something new, something different. That event changed his life. He lost his brother, the only friend he had in the world, the only one who could understand what he was going through. But he had been a child, and he believed his brother would be back. That wasn’t the case, but then he’d brushed it off. Frank was going to sell the car, so he took what was rightfully his, or at least, his family’s, and just drove. He sped through the cornfields and down dusty roads, music cranked up, roof down, the wind through his hair, the speedometer slowly climbing up. He outran the cops, for the first time in his life, and that would soon become a habit. He loved that thrill, of speeding through his boring hometown, in his father’s car, his father’s legacy. It’s a memory he looks back fondly on still. Not the taking the car, or the fighting with Frank, but the feeling of the wind in his hair, the speed, his father’s car, the music. And definitely not the falling off a cliff bit. He’d rather forget that.

Spock does not have a favourite childhood memory. As he has already reiterated countless times, favouritism is a most ridiculously illogical concept. However, childhood memories are not ridiculous, nor illogical. It is perfectly logical for beings to look back on events of the past that they found acceptable, satisfactory or enjoyable with fondness and eagerness to reminiscence. Childhood is generally one such time. Many beings did enjoy the time in which they were innocent, carefree and generally much happier than in their adult lives. Things are generally much simpler in childhood. The problems that afflict adults do not often afflict or bother children. Of course, there are exceptions to this. As a child, Spock struggled with his identity and the issues this caused just as much, if not more, than he currently does. That is not to say that he dislike his childhood or found in unsatisfactory. In fact, quite the opposite. He looks back with relative happiness, a human emotion he indulges in occasionally, on many moments during his juvenile years. These moments centre on those he shared with his mother. There are the usual memories and events, those in which things were simpler, like in his earlier memories, before he completely comprehended his unusual heritage. But there are also memories of when he was capable of fully comprehending his heritage, but before he was old enough that it would have negative effects on him. That, he realizes, is a very fine line, a very short period of time. It is a period of time he looks back on with great fondness. That was the time in which he has happy to be unique, different, half-human, half-Vulcan. He cannot say there are any more, or if there will be any more, times like that. But most of all, though he was biologically no longer a juvenile, though perhaps mentally he was not fully developed, he looks back with great fondness to these words: _‘You will always have a proud mother.’_


	13. Thing to Obsess Over

McCoy’s favourite thing to obsess over is space. More precisely, the dangers of space. It’s disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence. He obsesses, some say worry, some say worries too much, over these things about space. Why? Well, someone’s got to do it. It seems everyone else on this Crew, especially the young ones, views space as this wondrous place. They think it’s safe. How wrong they are. He lectures them on and on about this, but it never gets through. They never worry about it, they enjoy being in space. You would think, after so many missions gone wrong, that they would see the light. But they never do. As a doctor, he has a sworn duty of care to look after them. He has an obligation to tell them of any and every potential danger, and he has a duty to protect and save them from it. But that is not the only reason why the doctor is always so keen to emphasise the dangers of their lives. It keeps his mind off the fact that, really, he has very little apart from this endless darkness, emptiness. It keeps his mind off that his wife really did take the whole damn planet, that he has precious little on any planet. Everything he has is in space. How ironic. He worries and complains because it helps him forget. Obsession is like bourbon. Get drunk on it, and you’ll remember nothing else. It helps him cope. He’s an addict, he’s dependant, and he knows it’s bad for his health, damn it, he’s a doctor! But he doesn’t care. He never said he was perfect. He’ll obsess forever and always, it’s a coping mechanism. He needs to protect what little he’s got left.

Chekov’s favourite thing to obsess over is Russia. Generally, most of Chekov’s favourite things have to do with Russia. He’s quite the patriot. Some would say overly so. But he doesn’t listen to them. He’s developed a habit of ignoring those people. Many people would find it incredibly surprising that he only developed his habit of referencing Russia in any and every conversation at the age of thirteen, when he began attending Starfleet Academy. That was when he left Russia for good, for real, went out into the world. He’d already had that encyclopaedic knowledge of Russia; he spent much of his childhood years as a bored young genius, after all. He devoured any books or facts that came his way. But the habit of inserting them into any conversation, the tradition of shamelessly boasting of his homeland’s great achievements, did not begin until he began his Starfleet years. It developed as a way to firstly inform people of his place of origin that tended to resolve any awkward questions caused by his accent. Eventually, he realised how unconsciously he had been doing so, and that made him realize the true reason as to why he so often mentions Russia. It reminds him of home. In the simplest form, he was homesick. He missed his family. He missed his childhood home he missed Russia. He missed everything he left behind for the stars. He was young; after all, naive and inexperienced, away from the ones he loves. It was difficult for him, and though he never once took his eyes off the stars, he developed a way to carry a little bit of home with him always. Hence, his obsession with Russia was born.

Sulu’s favourite thing to obsess over is, rather strangely, obsessions. You see, the Enterprise’s Helmsman has many, many obsessions. There’s fencing, botany, heroism, adrenaline rushes, The Three Musketeers, comics, flying, martial arts...See? How could he possibly pick one favourite? The strange thing is he sometimes obsesses over the fact that he has many obsessions. No singular thing could keep Hikaru Sulu occupied, you see. He needs many passions, activities, events, adventures to keep him happy. He’s incredibly easily bored, as anyone on the Enterprise and his family would attest. And a bored Hikaru Sulu is not one that you would want to be around. He sometimes takes to fencing on the Bridge, or reading or even pruning when things are slow going. Though they have many amazing adventures on the Enterprise, they also have twice as many days in which absolutely nothing happens, and the most shocking news of the day ranges from Scotty’s latest explosion, to Yeoman Rand forcing Kirk, on pain of death, to complete his paperwork. It’s on those days that everyone is glad that Sulu has got more than one obsession. If he had only one singular passion, within a month or so into their five year mission, they would all be driven to the brink of insanity. They may also have encountered physical harm, as the Lieutenant, when incredibly bored, will play pranks, sometimes slightly dangerous, simply to entertain himself. Sometimes Chekov joins him in these, and then everyone will admonish him for corrupting the young Ensign. But at least, with many obsessions, though he may seem inconsistent, Hikaru Sulu will always be somewhat occupied, and only somewhat bored. He will at least always have something relatively fresh to do. Nothing’s ever going to be as good as a ground-breaking, spanking-new adventure, but at least with multiple obsessions, nothing will ever get entirely too familiar.

Scotty’s favourite thing to obsess over is the Enterprise. Were you expecting anything else? He absolutely adores her. She’s the most important thing in his life, that’s for sure. And he is absolutely, slavishly, devoted. He is shamelessly, utterly in love with the ship. They say he’s crazy, he doesn’t care. That, he believes, is how true obsession is defined. When one cares so much about something, they do not care what anyone else thinks. And that is how he knows he loves the Enterprise so. She’s everything to him, absolutely everything. He will fight tooth and nail, and he’s no warrior, to keep her safe. He’d confront Klingons head-on, unarmed, if they even dared to touch his girl. He will, and does, work day and night, tirelessly, continuously, to keep her in mint condition. He doesn’t just keep her new, and functional, but he keeps her the best ship in the fleet. He would never settle for anything else. This ship is his life, his love, the very reason for his existence. She’s home, and he’ll always be wherever she is. He’s never going to let them reassign him, or transfer him. If they know what’s good for them, they never will. Most think that this is exaggerated. It’s not. Many think it’s rather creepy, they say he has mechaphilia. Whether he does or does not is not important, and it’s not as if he’d actually share that information. He’d never hear the end of it. But he is most definitely obsessive over his Silver Lady. They all know he hates going on Away Missions, because that means leaving her. He talks to the ship as if she were his girlfriend. Some of the more mischievous Ensigns have gone as far as to suggest that she is. But no matter what anyone ever says, Scotty loves the Enterprise.

Uhura’s favourite thing to obsess over is perfection. She’s always seeking it, always striving for it. She will never, ever settle for second best, less than perfect. According to Spock, nothing is perfect. That would be illogical. For once, she does not care what he thinks. She believes it possible. That’s all that matters. The only thing that is impossible is impossibility. She’s determined to reach perfection. She believes she can. She’s always been ambitious, some say too much, she’s always believed in herself, some say too much so. But they’re the same people who said that she could never master Vulcan, that she could never speak as many tongues as she does now. They’re the people who could never see how devoted, obsessive, she was over Xenolinguistics. They’re the people who never believed, the doubters. She believes. She believes she can and will find perfection. She’s obsessive over that, as everyone knows. Long hours spent studying into the night, determined to get full marks on her exam the next day. Long hours spent in the Library, poring over ancient texts from across the universe, searching for some obscure word that had evaded her on some translation test. Days, weeks, months worth of nights, spent holed up in her room, or in the Library if Gaila had ‘visitors’, instead of out and about like the other Cadets. Not that she didn’t socialise, she had things like choir practice for that, but even then, she was obsessive. She had to hit that exact note, at that exact pitch, for that exact length, and she would sometimes practice until her voice was sore and hoarse. She’d had little leisure time at the Academy, but that’s all just as well, she thinks. It was worth it. Sacrifices must be made in the never-ending search for perfection. And she’s prepared to make them. She wants to be perfect. That’s why she sought out Spock to change her assignment. The Enterprise is the best. And she never settles for second best.

Kirk’s favourite thing to obsess over is, well, almost everything! Once he gets an idea into his head, you’d be hard pressed to stop him from following through with it. He’ll fly into it by the seat of his pants, not caring how ridiculous it is, how stupid it sounds, or what Spock says. He’s an impulsive individual, but you can’t say that he doesn’t have commitment. Well, perhaps he doesn’t in the relationships side of things, but with everything else, he’ll stick to it until he’s achieved his goal. And he will be obsessive about whatever it is until he reaches the goal he’s set. He won’t back down, and he can never resist a challenge. He’ll continue the obsession until he dies, or he reaches his goal, whatever comes first. He joined Starfleet on a whim, an obsession introduced by way of a challenge in a bar in Iowa. Many thought it couldn’t last. It did. The obsessive desire to honour his father’s sacrifice still drives him to this day. The Kobayashi Maru was another of these extreme obsessions. He was determined to pass it, because there was no way that is was impossible, no one sets an impossible task. There is no such thing as a no-win situation. He knows that. He does acknowledge, now, that the main purpose of the exam was to experience fear in the face of death, and conquer that fear, but he also believes there is a way to win it. Though the obsession with passing it is no longer in the forefront of his mind, he is determined to do it one day, without redefining the parameters. There are a thousand other, often fleeting, obsessions in the mind of Jim Kirk, an impulse-driven one. There is never one singular one, but one obsession will occupy his mind for a time, before being sated. There is really just one thing that he never obsesses over, and that is detailed plans. He’s a man of action, he believes in just going out there and doing it. That, is really the most constant and powerful obsession of his.

Spock does not have a favourite thing to obsess over. If he is asked what his favourite anything is one more time, he shall lose his temper, in a logical way, of course. He would not obsess over anything, such strong attachment to any object, person or idea is incredibly illogical and would be frowned upon, if they did frown, in Vulcan society. However, he finds himself developing what could be a psychological disorder that is afflicting Vulcan society after the Narada Incident. The symptoms of this worrying illness include a compulsive need to follow logic, as well as, bafflingly, growing emotional attachments. This is most illogical, yet most fascinating. Many have questioned the hasty re-bonding of many Vulcans, thinking that perhaps it shows disrespect to the deceased bondmates. However, Vulcans do not see it that way. Not only is there the issue of the need to reproduce, there is also the more pressing yet secretive issue of pon farr. It is perfectly logical to re-bond as quickly as possible. There is also a logical need for companionship. Although this is emotional, in this situation it is excused, as it is logical after such trauma. But most bizarrely, there is an emotional attachment to logic itself, a need to follow logic for the sake of emotional satisfaction. How strange. Many Vulcans have been reporting these strange symptoms. There is a need for logic, a craving for it, an emotional want to follow it, which in itself is totally illogical. But this brand of logic seems rather different from what it was before the destruction of Vulcan. Logic, as they now see it, seems to be capable of running hand in hand with emotions, to an extent. Spock, for example, dislikes letting Nyota out of his sight. This, he knows, is logical. He has just experienced trauma and loss; he logically does not want to undergo more loss. He therefore, logically, wishes to prevent it from happening. How bizarre. An obsession with applying logic to every situation, and justifying the decision as logical, even if it is purely emotional. Fascinating.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is all 15-year-old me, wrote, I'm afraid. I'm glad you guys have enjoyed this story!


End file.
